Azores Bullfinch

The Azores Bullfinch, or Priolo, is endemic to the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. It was once quite widespread until a few decades ago when farmers started shooting them because of crop damage. This beautiful finch is now only found in the eastern part of the island, mainly on wooded hillsides around Pico de Vara. A chance meeting with one of the whale spotters (vigias) near Ponta Delgada, led us to explore a different site that was not as far to drive and we were amazed to find over a dozen Bullfinches feeding in a field. I was thrilled to see such a rare bird and was quite content to enjoy pleasant but, from a photographer's viewpoint, distant views. That was until one bird flew from the field and landed in a bush quite close to our car from which I was able to obtain an acceptable photograph.

Both sexes of the Azores Bullfinch resemble
the female Eurasian Bullfinch.

Madeiran Wall Lizards are common on the rocks around
the harbour in Ponta Delagda.

This Loggerhead Turtle was seen on a whale-watching trip.

 

Common Buzzard.

Azorean Yellow-legged Gull - because of the abundant fish scraps
in the harbour at Ponta Delagada these gulls flatly refused to come
to bread!

Azorean race of Chaffinch.

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Spotted Dolphins in the Azores

Wildlife of the Azores

Whimbrel

I've been very busy in and out of work so I haven't had time to edit all my photos from my last trip to the Azores. But here are a few shots of a lovely Whimbrel that was on a rocky shore near Ponta Delagada. The light wasn't brilliant but the bird showed well and was seen to eat a few small crabs. During my stay on the island of Sao Miguel the weather was generally overcast and occasionally drizzly, while the weather here in Britain was sunny and warm. Surprisingly, a friend of mine was birding in Norway at the same time and the temperature was over 30 degrees Celsius north of the Arctic Circle!

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Marsh Tits at Leighton Moss

Sperm Whale

"If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me." So wrote Herman Melville in the opening chapter of Moby Dick.
I too feel the need to spend time by the coast or on the sea in search of seabirds and especially cetaceans. The naturalist and writer Mark Carwardine speaks of his need for a regular whale or dolphin "fix", and these animals, unlike any other, act like a drug on the minds of many people; once addicted there is no cure. The pleasure in seeing a distant blow as a whale surfaces, or the joy felt seeing dolphins at close quarters surfing the wake of boats or riding the bow-wave is unlike any other wildlife experience.
So for my fix this year I returned to the beautiful Azorean island of Sao Miguel, to search for whales and dolphins. I undertook five trips with the experienced Futurismo team, who virtually guarantee cetacean sightings. On my trip here last summer I was unfortunate not to see any species of whale, so I was more than pleased when one of my trips on the catamaran Cetus, produced sightings of a regular Sperm Whale know as "Mr Liable" for his reliability in showing up in the waters near the capital Ponta Delagada.

A 45 degree bushy blow is a good indication that you have spotted
a Sperm Whale.

Sperm Whales dive deeply in search of prey such as squid
and as such show their tail flukes when diving.

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Azores Spotted Dolphins

Azores Common Dolphins

BBC Wildlife Magazine

I read my first ever issue of BBC Wildlife in June 1984; with a bumble bee on the cover, it was placed carefully next to my bowl of Rice Krispies as I came down for breakfast. I haven't missed a copy since, but little did I think that one day my photographs might grace this illustrious magazine's pages.
I had a picture of a Ladybird Spider printed last year, and this October's issue has one of my Spotted Dolphin photos; it's a real thrill to see my photos in print.

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin and calf in the Azores.

Ladybird Spider, Mount Ipsilou, Lesvos, 2011.

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Dolphins

Spotted Dolphins in the Azores

Spotted Dolphins in the Azores

One of the highlights (and there were many!) of my boat trips with Futurismo on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores was the sighting of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. These charismatic cetaceans were seen on nearly all my boat trips. They were a species that I really wanted to see as I had not seen them before; and what a treat they were, bow-riding, leaping, breaching, diving and throwing themselves around with reckless abandon. And on one memorable occasion a large pod of "spotties" swam at great speed, porpoising in a long line adjacent to the catamaran that was itself motoring at a rate of knots.
This species only appears in the waters around the Azores in the summer months when the sea-temperature is high enough for them. The younger animals are plain grey and become more spotty as they mature. Om some of the photos grey calves can be seen swimming with, presumably, a darker, more spotted parent animal.
These playful, engaging dolphins are one of the reasons that I fully intend to return to the Azores.

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Common Dolphins in the Azores part2

Common Dolphins in the Azores part1

Azores Common Dolphins (part 2)

Finally managed to upload some more photos of the fabulous Common Dolphins seen off the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. Hope you enjoy looking at them.

 

 

 

 

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Risso's Dolphins in the Azores